Music Terms Modules 1 - 4

Pentatonic

A pattern of five notes within the octave; for example, the five black keys comprise this type of pattern

Fermata

A sign used to hold the note out longer than its normal length

Bar Line

A vertical line through the horizontal lines of a staff or staves separating music into measures

Half Step

Adjacent note on the keyboard

Articulation

An indication of how smoothly or detached written notes are to be sounded; words or symbols may be used

Brace

Curved brackets used at the beginning of the grand staff to connect two or more staves

Slur

Curved line above or below two or more different pitches indicating to play those notes smoothly or connected

Enharmonic

Different spellings to identify the same pitch

Interval

Distance between two notes

Allegro

Fast tempo

Downbeat

First beat of the measure, named for the conductor's downward notion used to indicate the first beat

Measure

Grouping of metered beats (strong and weak beats) separated by lines called bar lines

Beam

Horizontal line connecting the end of note stems of rhythmic values smaller than a quarter note; replaces the flag on individual notes

Phrase

Musical sentence, frequently four to eight measures long

Anacrusis

Note or notes of an incomplete measure at the beginning of a piece of music (also called "pick up")

Pulse Note

Note that represents the beat; note that receives one count

Note Head

Part of the note that is oval; its placement on the staff indicates the pitch of the note

Chromatic Scale

Pattern of notes that are half steps apart

Tempo

Rate of speed of the pulse

Meter

Recurring division of the pulse into a pattern of strong and weak beats

Flag Beam

Short curved line attached to the stem on the right at the opposite end of the note head that changes the note's value by half

Ledger Line

Short lines above or below a staff that extend the pitch range of the staff

Motive

Short rhythmic and melodic idea used in a phrase

Solfege

Singing with syllables; 7 syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti

Chromatic

Spelling for two notes using the same letter name, but with different accidentals

Diatonic

Spelling using consecutive letter names

Rest

Symbol to represent a specific duration of silence

Accidental

Symbol used to alter pitch

Natural Sign

Symbol used to cancel a previous accidental for that note: natural

Flat Sign

Symbol used to lower a note a half step

Double Flat

Symbol used to lower a note two half steps

Sharp

Symbol used to raise a note a half step

Double Sharp

Symbol used to raise a note two half steps

Musical Alphabet

The seven letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), which represent sounds or pitches from which melodies are composed

Bass Clef (F Clef)

The sign indicating that the fourth line from the bottom is the F below middle C

Treble Clef (G Clef)

The sign indicating that the second line from the bottom of the staff is the G above middle C

Grand Staff

The treble staff above and bass staff below joined together by a bar line and with a brace; used in notating keyboard music

Time Signature

The two numbers placed at the beginning of a piece that indicate the number of beats in a measure (top number) and the note value

Whole Step

Two adjacent half steps

Octave

Two pitches of the same name, eight letter names apart

Double Bar Line

Two vertical lines on a staff or staves used to indicate the end of a section of music

8va

Used to play an octave higher than indicated

8vb

Used to play an octave lower than indicated

Simple Meter

When the top number of a time signature is 2, 3, or 4; the main pulse note divides into groups of 2 or 4